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Barca's former coach dead at 45
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/goodbye-tito-brave-hero-created-163000624--sow.htmlAt times like this, football fades into insignificance. Tito Vilanova's tragic death at the age of just 45 puts everything else into perspective at Barcelona and beyond. The Catalan club has had its problems in recent weeks and months, but all those troubles will eventually be forgotten. Tito, however, will not be.
Gone too soon, too sudden and far too young, Tito was and will remain a symbol of bravery and heroism at Camp Nou. A man who played a pivotal part in the success of the club's greatest ever side and who led Barca to La Liga with a record 100 points while simultaneously disputing the match of his life off the pitch as he battled cancer. Sadly, it was a game he could not win....
Tito took time out that same season (2011-12, Guardiola's final campaign in charge) as he underwent surgery to remove a tumour in his throat and was subsequently treated for cancer. But he felt sufficiently strong to replace Pep when the former Barca boss said he would leave for a sabbatical in 2012. There was, however, a word of warning from his friend. "Life has handed this kid such a hard test," Guardiola told the media. "You don't know how much he suffered. But he got over it."
Vilanova led Barca to La Liga in 2012-13 with a total of 100 points to equal the record set by Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid the previous season, but he missed two months of the campaign after suffering a relapse of his throat cancer in December 2012 and was forced to step down last summer.
Gone too soon, too sudden and far too young, Tito was and will remain a symbol of bravery and heroism at Camp Nou. A man who played a pivotal part in the success of the club's greatest ever side and who led Barca to La Liga with a record 100 points while simultaneously disputing the match of his life off the pitch as he battled cancer. Sadly, it was a game he could not win....
Tito took time out that same season (2011-12, Guardiola's final campaign in charge) as he underwent surgery to remove a tumour in his throat and was subsequently treated for cancer. But he felt sufficiently strong to replace Pep when the former Barca boss said he would leave for a sabbatical in 2012. There was, however, a word of warning from his friend. "Life has handed this kid such a hard test," Guardiola told the media. "You don't know how much he suffered. But he got over it."
Vilanova led Barca to La Liga in 2012-13 with a total of 100 points to equal the record set by Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid the previous season, but he missed two months of the campaign after suffering a relapse of his throat cancer in December 2012 and was forced to step down last summer.
